Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 February 2026
177. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment for an update on the commitment to have at least 2 GW of new, flexible, gas-fired generation; the progress in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14757/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government has set a target of having at least 2GW of new flexible gas-fired generation by 2030 in our Climate Action Plans to ensure secure generation of electricity at times of low renewable output and/or high demand. The CRU, EirGrid and my Department are supporting the ongoing delivery of this 2GW of new flexible generation capacity through capacity market auctions.
The operation of the capacity market auctions is undertaken by the Single Electricity Market Operator under the oversight of the Single Electricity Market Committee (SEM-C). The CRU is part of the Single Electricity Market Committee, which decides on the volumes to be procured in the capacity market, in what regions of the all-island grid, and the resulting costs.
As such the majority of the Deputy's query should be directed to the CRU as Ireland's representatives on the SEM-C in the first instance. The CRU is an independent statutory regulator and is accountable for the performance of its functions to a Committee of the Oireachtas . The CRU provides a dedicated email address for Oireachtas members, which enables them raise questions on energy regulatory matters, such as the matter raised in this Question, to CRU at oireachtas@cru.ie for timely direct reply.
EirGrid’s All Ireland Resource Adequacy Assessment 2025-2034 report sets out a risk adjusted view in Table 5.1 around new conventional generation capacity. In this table, it sets out that 2.43GW of new capacity has been procured and it forecasts that 1.64GW of this capacity will deliver by 2028. Due to the freeze date for the AIRAA 2025-2034 report, results from the 2028/2029 T-4 capacity auction, in which 560 MW of new de-rated capacity was successfully awarded in Ireland, which includes 262MW of gas fired capacity, is not included in this adequacy assessment.
The SEM-C will continue to procure additional dispatchable capacity through capacity market auctions to meet forecasted demand from the all-island system as required, to ensure system security.
